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[bunny]

Hi everyone!
I need some advise on my 4 year old black velvet female chin.  She has never been super friendly, but she never would bite.  Lately she has been in attack mode.  If anyone comes near her cage she will pee on them, and when I go in her cage to feed her she will bite really hard.  She can be in a dead sleep, and I will be a quiet as possible when feeding, but she will still wake up and try to take a chunk out of my hand.  She doesn't bark, but by her stance you can tell she is on guard all the time.   This is totally new, she would bark in the past if she didn't want to be bothered, and nibble your fingers when she was getting chin rub... but now I can't even get near her cage.

She appears healthy, poops are normal, same amount, size, texture.  She is eating fine, no eye discharge or drool, she is very active, I worry she is not resting enough.  She will take a treat with out biting, its the only time I can near the cage.  I did take her out yesterday and gave her a good check, physically she is fine.  I changed all the chins food about 6 weeks ago, and everyone did fine with the change, no other changes have happened in the house. Her cage mate is not acting any different, he is very social and sweet still, and they are not fighting.  It maybe possible she is pregnant, but with her last litter she seemed to want attention more.  She is not showing any signs of being pregant though, and there are no signs that mating has happened. ..

It has been a few weeks since this change, is this stress?  Any suggestions on how I can get her to at least stop peeing and biting?  I was thinking of taking her cage mate out, but I think that may stress her out more.  I also have been putting a dust bath bucket outside of her cage to make her leave and get close to me to bathe, but it hasn't helped yet.  I am at a loss, any idea what's going on or how to resolve this?

[chinclub]

She is obviously upset so I wouldn't make any more changes (as in removing her mate) that could make it worse.  I'm thinking she may be pregnant.  I had a female that would become very mean and spray when she was pregnant.  As a mom of two myself I can tell you that each pregnancy is different.  Hormones do crazy things to females.

[cusunfireguy]

My female will destroy her cage when she's pregnant.  She will flip the houses, pull up the towels, and just ransack the place.  You don't always see signs that mating has happened.  We just found part of the mating plug recently for the first time ever.  Is she getting a "break" in between babies?  If not, she could be over it you know?  Or, she could just be mean when pregnant.  I'm no expert but dealing with lot's of women in my life, I know that no 2 pregancies are the same and attitudes can be very different for each one.  LOL! 

Best wishes!

Steven

[bunny]

Thank you for the replies

If she is pregnant, this will be her second litter.  The kit from the last litter is almost a year old now (sidenote: I sold the kit in May and the owner stopped by with her to visit a few weeks ago.. it was the best thing ever to see her fully grown happy and healthy!)  and I kept the mom caged alone for about 3 months after the kit was weened.  She doesn't play nice with other chins, but you could tell she was very lonely, so we were lucky enough to find a young male that she just adores.  The space between the litters is enough for her, she is perfectly healthy so i am not concerned there.  We did want these two to mate, she is just so picky we figured it would be longer. 

Steven, I have never found the mating plug either.  With this female and her first pregnancy she had no weight gain or signs at all, the only reason we guessed that she was pregnant was because she liked to be held and seemed to want to be around someone at all times, which is not her normal behavior at all.

Well, since this may be a few months till she clams down, does anyone have an suggestions on how to co-exist with an upset momma chin?  I'll be honest, the other 5 are all sweet and love to be social, I had no issue getting them used to being handled by me and my fiance with in a week or so.  I have tried every day sitting on the other end of the room and reading to her for a little bit, and offering her pellets, hay and treats through the cage to see if she will get used to me again.  She just takes the food, and if i linger any longer she will try and spray or bite.  i will put a dust bath bucket next to me and she will bathe near me, but if i move at all she will pee (bath time is the only time she will come out of the cage on her own).  I have to cover my hands when i feed her or take her mate out and i have to put a blanket over her to take her out to clean the cage.  Any suggestions i can try, or anything that may work better?

Thanks again everyone!
   

[chinclub]

I'd just give her space and hope the 3 months goes quickly.

[cusunfireguy]

Yep, sounds like she is just pissed at the moment.  My girl, who I'm sure is pregnant, actually released some hair in a perfect strip on her tail a couple nights ago when holding her.  She's never done that before.  But alas, the cage ofcourse was just destroyed again tonight.  She's still sweet as can be though.  She just goes nuts for those cheerios.  Have you tried those?  All of mine just love em.  They will take a cheerio over a raisin any day.  Sounds like you may be in for a rough ride this go round.  She could be early in and the hormones may settle and she could lighten up.  But chins are so unpredictable.  Totally feel for ya!

Good luck!

Steven